XBC Jumpoff

XBC Jumpoff is a Zimbabwean music podcast which showcases the talents produced by the country. The XBC team is two individuals nicknamed 'Chyll' and 'MJ' who independently host as well as produce the podcast with no formal training. XBC Jumpoff began in early 2007 as a Zimbabwean trio composed of DJ Princess, Chyll and MJ on Zonet Radio hosting a 3 hour show on the Friday prime time slot. Initially, the XBC team considered themselves as strictly Hip Hop and RnB DJs but soon became more versatile with the increasing popularity of local Zimbabwean genres. The show grew in stature given the uniqueness of three DJs hosting all at once which was a first on the station. Upon leaving the station, due to relocation factors XBC Jumpoff became a duo with Chyll and MJ running the team resulting in the 'XBC Jumpoff' podcast being created in September 2007. The pair decided not to replace DJ Princess.
It is the only podcast of its kind to focus on promoting mostly Zimbabwean music exclusively on the internet. XBC Jumpoff is a fortnightly podcast which is themed differently each time and hosted mostly in English with an occassional mixture of the local Shona and Ndebele languages. The musical genres played on this podcast range from Urban Grooves, Sungura, Jazz, Hip Hop and Zimbabwean Dancehall among other locally produced sounds. Artists whose music has featured on the podcast include Kudakwashe Musasiwa, Shayndingz, Chiwoniso Maraire, Roy & Royce, Carole Nyakudya, ExQue, Mbuya Stella Chiweshe, Jazz Invitation, Zubz, C-Blud, Roki, Maskiri, Munetsi, Winky D, Tererai Mugwadi, Sanii Makhalima, Sam Mtukudzi, Stunner, King Labash and many more. Some artists have also appeared on audio interviews on the XBC Jumpoff podcasts. On occasion the hosts also play music from other African countries like South Africa, Botswana, Nigeria, Angola, Kenya, Zambia and many others. The XBC Jumpoff team also engages in music production.
One of their first podcasts titled 'Musikanzwa Controversial Show' remains their best and most downloaded among their collection and earned them the title 'Boyz Remusikanzwa' meaning 'The troublesome boys'. On the podcast, they played music mostly banned from national radio in Zimbabwe due to its content and it raised a lot of political and moral questions among Zimbabweans. Regardless of the nature of the Musikanzwa Controversial Show the duo strongly denies any political motives in their podcasts though they openly call for peaceful political existence among Zimbabweans. They have gone to produce many more podcasts and continue to do so. XBC Jumpoff offers a much needed up to date scenario of the current Zimbabwean music scene for Zimbabweans living outside the country. The XBC team claim that their mixture of music by Zimbabwean and diaspora based artists gives one of the most complete accounts of Zimbabwean music available. Their show has grown to become noticed by Zimbabweans in Zimbabwe as well. To date the XBC Jumpoff listenership continues to rise considerably averaging nearly 4000 downloads every month.
Appearances on Sheffield Community Radio
The duo recently began hosting a 30 minute segment on Sheffield Community radio aptly titled Afro-Beat Connection (A.B.C) courtesy of one of the DJs on the station, Ghetto Glamour, who acknowledged and expressed a keen interest in their work. This is an African journey revealing the musical talent from the motherland every Saturday between 19.00 and 21.00 GMT on http://www.sheffieldlive.org
Personal life
Rumours surfaced suggesting that one of the show's hosts, Chyll, was involved with foxy Zimbabwean songstress Cynthia Mare, a claim he reportedly denies and has been known to refuse to speak on the matter. Not much is known about his personal life apart from residing in London, United Kingdom and hailing from the capital city of Harare. MJ is from a small town called Gweru and said to have released an album under the Urban Grooves genre in 2005. He continues to hold a strong musical interest though he does not mention much of himself as an artist.

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